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By Andrew Armida, Special FCP Correspondent, 13 year old wonder.

This is the question that probably other people and I want to know.  I have narrowed it down to four players.  I have chosen who I think are the two best hitters and pitchers in each league.  The players I have chosen are Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana, Albert Pujols, and Jake Peavy.  You could probably argue that players like Sabathia, Webb, Reyes, and Vlad have a gripe, but these are the players that I think have showed success for many years.  I am not choosing the most talented player in baseball because I don’t think any of these would be my pick. I am choosing who I think is the best player in the MLB currently.

Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod has been one of the most dominant players for this decade and probably will continue to be right up to when that ten-year deal is up.  A-Rod is the definition of the five-tool player- good speed, outstanding power, the ability to make contact often, slick fielding, and a cannon from third.  Just look and his 162 game average numbers compared to some of the best third basemen of all-time:

A-Rod beats out each of these hall of famers in runs, homeruns, RBI’s, and stolen bases.  He has improved on his walk totals since 2000, drawing at least 80 a year since then.  The only thing A-Rod will never beat these guys in though is strikeouts, as he will probably be in the 120 range for a while.  Even when you look past the offensive numbers Rodriguez is a great player.  Whether it is defensively, instincts, or durability, the man is just a great player.

Johan Santana

Since Johan’s first full season as a starter in 2004, he has been one of, if not the most, dominant pitchers in all of baseball.  With his 95+ MPH fastball, amazing changeup, and all of his other pitches he has become an outstanding pitcher.  He is all you would want in a pitcher especially a left hander.  Now look at his average numbers since his first full starting season in 2004 compared to some of the best ever southpaw starters:

*** I took out some years if they didn’t have a lot of starts so the numbers may not be exact***

Clearly, Johan’s numbers match up to all of these great lefties.  But, it, of course, isn’t always about the stats.  Santana is a smart pitcher and a great team player.  He’s the kind of guy you would build your pitching staff around if you were starting a team.

Albert Pujols

Ever since his rookie season Pujols has been one of the most dominant players in all of baseball.  He is one of the best power hitters in the games never racking up less than 32 homers and 102 RBI’s (both last seasons’ totals).  He’s been through a lot of positions but it looks like he’s here to stay at first with a career fielding percentage of .994 at the position.  He isn’t much of a base stealer but he did swipe 16 in 05.  He has developed great plate discipline by striking out less than 60 times in the last two seasons and walking over ninety times in those two years.  And again, he is also a smart player and a good teammate.   Now look at his 162 game average stats compared to some of the best first basemen:

Pujols only owns the homerun category out of these players but he is very close in all of the others.  But again, Pujols is a smart player with a lot of talent and he is still very young, not to mention his consistency and his amazing fielding %.  I think Pujols is going to keep putting up great seasons and he is the kind of player I would want on my team.

Jake Peavy

When it came to picking the best pitcher in the NL, I was really torn between Peavy and Webb.  The both have had solid careers so far with similar stats, but Peavy’s were slightly better in certain categories and of course you love the high nineties fastball, so I chose him.  Peavy is a very talented, hard throwing, young pitcher.  He had his best season so far last year, capturing the NL Triple Crown in pitching by leading in wins, strikeouts, and ERA.  He is just one of those raw, nitty-gritty fireballers.  He does also have some other great offspeed pitches and breaking balls to add to that fastball.  Look at his career average starting season compared to some other great righty starters.

*** I took out some years if they didn’t have a lot of starts so the numbers may not be exact***

As you can see, Peavy only owns the loss column here but it is weird how his numbers compare to these guys.  I’ll bet you he wouldn’t be last in innings if every starter pitched 220+ innings a year like they did when Ryan, Seaver, and Niekro pitched.  I was surprised to see how close his and Nolan Ryan’s stats were.  I think Peavy still has quite of few years of dominance left, as he is 26.  I would definitely give him a spot on my team.

And the Winner is…

Alex Rodriguez.  I feel that right now he is a player that can do it all.  He is going to have many more dominant seasons until the end of his career.  In my opinion, A-Rod is defiantly the best player in baseball now.

Here’s to the runner-ups

I think Peavy, Pujols, and Santana are all studs.  They are all going to have great seasons to come and great careers.  If I had to rank them after A-Rod it would probably go:

2. Santana

2a. Pujols

4. Peavy

I really can’t decide between Pujols and Santana.  You never see them play together or in the same league so it’s hard to judge.  And of course, honorable mention goes to Peavy.

Thanks for reading.  Let me know if you agree with me or if you have a different pick.